The invention of the atom bomb and subsequent reality of living under threats of mutual assured destruction have created moral dilemmas and paradoxes of a scale that humanity has never before experienced. If waging a nuclear war is viewed as an unprecedented crime against humanity, something that can never be justified morally, how is it that we have created and legitimated a global world-order that relies on the pledge to commit these very crimes? This seminar will explore, from both a historical and an analytical perspective, the dilemmas and paradoxes of the nuclear age. Historically, we will try to examine some of the big decisions of the nuclear age as fundamentally moral decisions. Analytically, we will explore the moral dimensions of nuclear deterrence.

Schedule
6:00pm-7:50pm on Tuesday (Aug 26, 2013 to Dec 13, 2013)
Location
400PAC D200
Instructors